Staying with Steve Leonard
by Ronnie Ravenly
Summary: This is a sequel to "Returning to Steve Leonard". We see more of Belle, but there's something new about her. There will also be a couple of OCs I think, two good and at least one bad, if you readers are fine with that. ON HIATUS, but I am currently rewriting the prequel, so if there is actually someone still interested in this story, you could check out that.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **This is the first chapter of the sequel to "Returning to Steve Leonard"._

_**Disclaimer:** This is **FAN**fiction. It's pretty obvious that I don't own anything. I don't._

_**Staying to Steve Leonard**_

_**Prologue**_

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><p><em><span>Three weeks later<span>_

Steve closed his eyes. He didn't want to have to deal with this. But, to be honest, he'd rather deal with this every day the rest of his life before losing her completely. He felt small. This was ironic really, since he started acting the way he did and became a vampaneeze to avoid feeling small. But he had never expected this. Any of this.

But it didn't matter. After all, it was better to feel small to get Belle to feel better than feeling small because his supposedly _best friend_ stole his dream, as was his reason to feel small before.

Steve took a deep breath, before loosening up his fist and opening his eyes. Then again, if Belle's new friend hadn't been there… Steve shuddered. He didn't want to think about it. If Acheron hadn't been there, Belle would have been dead. And on her own accord. Steve could never forget it. Never ever forget the day Belle had tricked one of his vampaneezes to come to her, to drink her close to dry and then leave her to die. Steve could barely live with himself after that.

But he shoved those thoughts away. He had important things to attend.

It wasn't so long after that Steve was on his way to the edge of the forest. The forest was dead in the typical autumn way. Steve was glad to get away from the Cirque. He felt as though he couldn't as much as breath there without someone glaring at him.

While waiting for Belle to get better everyone had decided that it was for the best that Steve moved in with the Cirque, though few liked it most approved of it.

Steve started walking faster. Once he was there, he growled. Fifteen-twenty vampaneezes had come together this time. The last time there had only been about ten of them. Steve smiled. It was a sadistic and mad smile, but a smile nevertheless.

One of the vampaneezes stepped forward. His name was Gladitorh, and everyone feared him, more or less since his name was so close to Gladiator. And the man lived up to his name, that was for sure. It was said that he never had lost a fight. That was impressive, Steve would admit that much. But that didn't make him unbeatable.

These fights was all about fighting skills and nerves. They were made in case the vampaneezes would need to change lord. Apparently the vampaneezes thought they needed to do so now, and had therefore started challenging Steve. The winner would either keep his position as lord, or find himself a new crowned vampaneeze lord.

The two vampaneezes would fight with their hands only, no weapons allowed. The fight was either until one of the contestants called to surrender, or until one was so unfortunate and die. Steve was pretty content. After a month of having these fights, he had only actually had to kill three vampaneezes. And he was still vampaneeze lord. That was good.

Gladitorh stepped all the way forward. He now stood straight before Steve. Steve smirked as he noticed that all the other vampaneezes had stepped back and given them space. The oldest of the vampaneezes announced the start of the game. Less that a second later Steve had Gladitorh pinned to the ground. Steve had him in his special grasp, one that would allow Steve to break Gladitroh's hand if he moved as much as an inch.

Both vampaneezes were completely still in a couple of seconds. Then Gladitorh moved just a millimeter, and his hand gave away with a sickening snap. Steve looked at his rival, expecting him to beg for surrender. Steve barely had time to notice the smirk on the vampaneezes face, before he felt himself flying a couple of feet.

Even if the fall itself actually took less than a half second, time flew by slowly for Steve, and the short while felt like an eternity. As he finally landed, Steve easily felt the sharp stone dig its way into the side of his head. But he got up quickly, delighted at the surprise and obvious terror at Gladitorh's face, before he got his mask back on again.

Steve felt what he believed was blood run down his neck, his face and over his body. He wasn't able to see himself, but he was well aware at the fact that he looked like a mess. Steve took the surprise Gladitorh was displaying, and used it for all it was worth. He ran straight at his opponent, and took a painful grip around his neck. He was only seconds away from breaking Gladitorhs neck when a velvet voice stopped him.

"Is there something _wrong_ with you?" Belle's voice was strong and demeaning. One of the vampaneezes answered her. "What do you mean?" It was clear that the vampaneeze was offended by the fact that she disapproved of what vampaneezes looked on as their religion. Belle kept her face emotionless and cold.

Steve let go of Gladitorh, sensing trouble. He walked a few steps against Belle, trying to catch her attention by looking in her eyes. "I _mean_," she said, obviously mocking the vampaneeze. "is there a reason that explains this stupidity?" Steve could see it all falling apart for his inner eye.

The vampaneezes eyes light up in rage. "Be careful with what you say, _bitch_!" Belle just laughed. He growled deep in his throat, before going after her. A blue, stirring snake of electricity coming pointedly from Belle's stopped him after a few feet. The vampaneeze shook almost a minute, before Belle let him go, and he fell to the ground.

"I don't hold my tongue for anyone, dear. Especially not for you." The vampaneeze smelled brunt, and he was laying down, breathing hard, but to Steve's relief he was still alive. Steve quickly went after Belle. There was no telling where she would go. After all, she was still very unstable.

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><p><em><strong>AN:** Hi, I'm sorry for not posting before. But now it's here, the sequel! If anyone has an idea for a better name I'd love to hear it, since this name is pretty bad._


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: **This chapter is dedicated to **cravingsmiles** as a thanks for her kind review (and because she's awesome!)._

_**Disclaimer:** This is **FAN**fiction. It's pretty obvious that I don't own anything. I don't._

_**Staying to Steve Leonard**_

_**Chapter One**_

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><p><em><span>This is set two weeks before the Prologue<span>_

She was sick. She was aware of that. Painfully aware. The way Steve and Darren looked at her now, as if they pitied her, it made her want to die. To just not be there anymore. To simply slip away into the welcoming darkness that ruled her world whether she was awake or asleep and give in. That way, they wouldn't have to see her. They wouldn't have to see her sick, pale and skinny figure anymore. It would make everybody happy. It would make _Steve_ and _Darren _happy. And that was all that mattered.

She would have done it.

She really would. But they didn't let her come near any sharp objects. Not after she slit her wrist so badly and deep that they seriously thought they'd have to turn her to save her. They didn't though, and she woke up on her own accord with a bit of help from Mr. Tall. The fact that he had helped her annoyed her, but only half as much as it confused her. After all, he was supposed to know the freaking _future_. Shouldn't he know that it was for the best? It drove her mad sometimes. Everybody knew it was for the best, yet they didn't let her do it.

Yet, the fact that Mr. Tall had saved her had to mean something? She probably could have found a way to end it, had she really put all her effort in it. The problem was that she didn't give it all she had, she couldn't get herself to do it. The little doubt that had softly crept its way into her mind stopped her. After all, it wasn't that she wanted to die. Not really. It was how much her friends suffered after seeing her that made her want to pass over.

She didn't want to die. But she would. She would gladly do it for Steve. She just wanted to save Steve and Darren from the misery seeing her brought with it. She wanted them to stop suffering because of her. She wasn't worth it. Not at all. She was just barely worth their time of the day, not their suffering. She just wanted them to be able to forget about her and move on with their lives. Move on to a happier place.

She had killed someone. She had _killed someone._ She had _killed _a man.

She had killed someone both of her close friends knew, and one of them was even his friend. How could they let her _do this_ do them? She had no right. At times she swore that they were madder that her.

After all, you have to be pretty mad to actually stick with a person you know is mad. Maybe it's their intelligence there's something wrong with?

Belle had been wondering about that for a long time. Yet she couldn't make up her mind, everything was so confusing. Were they mad, or just plain stupid? This was what Belle spent most of her time doing. This particular question. This meaningless question. After all, what else could she do?

It wasn't like she could ask; she refused to speak to any of them. Not to anyone at all. Not because she was angry with them, but because if she as much as opened her mouth, she would begin apologizing for what she had done. She would beg for their forgiveness; forgiveness she didn't deserve. How dare she ask for forgiveness?

Belle didn't know what to do. Why didn't they let her end it? It would be best for everyone if she just killed herself. If she just slipped away late one night, when no one would care and no one would look.

After all, she had killed someone. She had _killed_ someone. Yes, the best would be for her to die, no doubt.

They made it much more complicated then it needed to be. Belle knew she was pushing Steve away. She knew, she wasn't in lack of common sense. And the mere thought of that terrified her. Yet, she couldn't talk to him. For some reason he seemed to care for her. Then, what was going on inside her head could only hurt him. Why couldn't he see that? Why couldn't anyone see that? Why couldn't anyone see _anything_?

She was sick, he couldn't help her. He couldn't just _fix_ her! There was no chance that she would recover fully. Belle was aware of that too, after all, she wasn't stupid. She would be sick until the day she died.

Belle was sure of that. She would _never _be okay ever again. She was _gone_, she might as well be buried six feet under. Why couldn't anyone _see_ that?

That's what made her sure. Steve didn't know what he was doing. He just did the first thing that came to mind, and prayed that it was the right thing to do.

Otherwise he would have let her end it. He would have, there was no other explanation. There was no way he let her live because he _cared_. No way. At _all_.

That couldn't be it. She didn't know much about him anymore. But she knew that he wasn't kind to people out of pity. This Steve would have killed them himself before that'd happen. And there was nothing else; that was just the way things were. End of story. That was all there was to it.

Belle blinked again. She had been doing that quite often after she stopped speaking. At first she had spoken just a few necessary words. Then she had stopped speaking all together After all, what could she say? _'Hi Steve, I'm sorry I killed your mentor, but I hoped you could love me anyway'_? No way. She owed him more than that.

She recalled a line from a song she had hear someone singing when she was a child. It fitted. _'Love is when you want a kiss, and you get bit'_. Belle smiled in spite of herself. How ironic.

Just then Darren entered. He asked her how she was, and looked disappointed when she didn't answer. Just like always. He tried to keep a conversation with her, like he always did. He didn't tell her anything new. Except for one thing; there was a new freak coming to the Cirque.

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><p><em><strong>AN: **I'm so sorry for not updating earlier! I just got a new PC, because my old one suddenly just stopped working. Then I had to move everything from the old PC to the new one._

_If anyone can say the name of the song I put a lyric from in here, I'll dedicate the next chapter for you!_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: **This chapter is dedicated to **Nickeh**, who recognized the song She's a Genius by **Jet**._

_**Disclaimer:** This is **FAN**fiction. It's pretty obvious that I don't own anything. I don't._

_**Staying with Steve Leonard**_

_**Chapter Two**_

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><p><em><span>This is set two weeks and three days before the Prologue<span>_

The new freak was named Caleb. Darren brought Belle to see him that late afternoon. Once Belle entered the room she knew something was different about him. His hair was light brown, and went close to his shoulders. But what actually caught Belle's attention, that was how messy it was. It looked like he had come straight out of bed with it. It was also cut unevenly, so at some places it was longer, while at some places it was shorter.

The rest of his clothing was in the same style. He had a leather jacket, a black and baggy pant that hung low on his waist and a loose royal blue shirt, the same color as his sneakers. His smirk was lopsided, and his brow eyes gleamed with mischief.

He was tall and lean, and had several inches on both Steve and Darren. He was working out, and it _showed_. He had ear buds in his ears, and his body sort of vibrated with the music Belle could hear all the way across the room.

Darren didn't like Caleb, that much was obvious. His shoulders got tense, his fists clenched, and his eyes avoided Caleb as much as possible. He gave Belle a look that clearly said he would be leaving shortly. And he did, just like that. When he was gone Caleb introduced himself.

"Hi, pretty girl. I'm Caleb." Caleb held out his hand for Belle to shake. Belle stood motionless for a couple of seconds, before she changed her mind. She shook his hand while smiling at him. "I'm Belle." Caleb held her hand a couple seconds longer than necessary before he let go and stood back a couple of feet. "I know. Everyone talks about you. They said you are mute though." Belle didn't flinch, didn't look down. She merely answered. "I am not." She didn't say anything else. It was enough with that, she decided.

Caleb nodded. Didn't care to know more. But smile at her he continued to do. Her appearance was a bit odd. She had a long, light brown trench coat that covered most of her features, but Caleb could see that she was skinny. In fact she was so skinny it looked sickening, but somehow she managed to pull it off better than most. Under the coat she wore some black jeans, her fingernails painted in the same deep black. Her hair was slightly curled and wet, her eyelashes seemed to be naturally dark and her lips was redder than most, but they didn't look like any makeup was on them. No cheap lipstick, just plain lips.

Caleb turned down the music, just a bit. His hand moved steadily to the switch on his iPod. "So, what's the deal down here? I've been asking around before, but no one will answer me. Are you all that secretive, or did I just happen to meet all the bad people?" Belle smiled like he was an idiot, even looked away while she laughed. When her voice finally offered him an answer it was soft though.

"I think you met the wrong persons, and I think you know just how to ask the wrong questions." Caleb didn't seem to disagree, as he just laughed. His eyes shone a bit brighter than when Belle came in, and his mouth turned upward in a different way than before. "You may be right about that pretty girl. But that boyfriend of yours just hate me. He doesn't have a reason, he just does."

Belle dismissed the possibility of it being someone else than Steve instantly. After all, that sounded pretty much like Steve. "It's not you. Steve just does that." Caleb looked at her as if she was missing a screw. She raised a blonde eyebrow at him. "And you like him? Even like that?" Belle didn't take more than a half second to think trough it. After all, her conclusion was right. "It is what it is." Caleb nodded. After all, she was right. And Steve did seem to really care for her. It seemed like he treated her well. "I can respect that." Belle smiled at him in thanks.

After that slightly odd encounter Belle went back to her room. Then she sat down on her bed and purposely ignored the plate of food on her table. But she knew, things was going to get a lot more exciting now that Caleb was here.

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><p>Steve had been walking around in the Cirque for hours when he saw Darren walk over the grass with Belle. It wasn't lost on him that they were walking the same way as Caleb's tent. That's why he followed them. He wanted to see how Belle reacted to this new face in the Cirque, considering everything that had happened lately. Steve was well aware of the fact that none of the people that had met Caleb liked him very well.<p>

Steve knew Darren would leave Belle alone with Caleb. It was just hunch, but Darren did indeed come out after a few minutes. He walked fast, as if in hurry to get away from Caleb. Then Steve walked all the way to the tent, and he could easily hear Caleb introduce himself and hit on _his_ girl. Steve almost chocked when Belle said her own name. His heartbeat sped up dramatically and his breathing became ragged. Then Belle said that she was not mute.

A smile crossed his face. The smile disappeared when Caleb claimed not to know why nobody liked him though. And when he talked about how badly Steve treated him, Steve wanted to scoff so badly. Belle said that that's just how he was. So that was how she saw him? A somebody who was incapable to be nice? As a mean and evil person?

Steve walked away before Belle came out a while later, going to the vampaneezeses, his back hunched and his eyes burning with madness.

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><p>Darren went to Belle's tent later, having heard from others at the Cirque that they had seemed to get along well. There was even rumors that Belle had spoken to Caleb, but Darren recognized that as nonsense at once, not thinking twice about it.<p>

He entered her room, glanced at the uneaten food on the table, and sat on the chair by her bed. "I don't get why it always has to be like this? You always end up trusting someone I can't stand, and then I feel pressured to make an effort with them, and I end up becoming friends with them. Why?" He looked into her eyes, not expecting an answer, but wanting one anyway. To his surprise Belle turned to him and made eye contact. Then she smirked.

"Well, someone has to make sure it's not always you against the whole bad, cruel world, don't you think?" Her eyes gleamed dangerously.

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><p><em><strong>AN:** I'm so sorry for not updating! I hope this will make up for it? *Looks at you with puppy-eyes* Please forgive me? So what do you all think about Caleb? He was really hard to write!_

_How am I supposed to know how I did if you don't review?_


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